We had four tremendous days of work, advocacy and philanthropy in Lexington and Frankfort at our annual Legislative and Business Meeting this week. First, Kentucky REALTORS® took our message of promoting Homeownership to the Capitol. On Wednesday, approximately 200 of our members started the day at a Rally in the Rotunda. During the rally, Senator John Schickel was recognized for his outstanding work on behalf of REALTORS® and the real estate industry. He was presented the Jess Kinman Award - the highest award given to a state lawmaker by KYR. The group then dispersed and spent several hours meeting in groups and one-on-one with legislators from every corner of Kentucky. In the end, we visited with more than one-half of the 138 member General Assembly.

On the final day, KYR Immediate Past President Mike Becker presented a motion to the Board of Directors asking attending members to make contributions and have KYR provide an additional $500 to whatever s collected, to support the families of the victims of the recent mass shooting at Marshall County High School in Western Kentucky. REALTORS® are known to be generous and more than $800 was collected from the attendees during the meeting. Following the collection, a challenge was issued by the Lexington-Bluegrass Association to all of the other Kentucky local associations, asking them to contribute an additional $500 each. The response was also generous, as more than half of the state’s locals agreed to meet the challenge. In March, a citizen’s organization now known as: “Marshall Strong” will be meeting in Benton, KY to organize support efforts. KYR President Steve Cline will attend to announce our support and present a check for the state’s contribution. Our local associations will be getting approvals from their board and will pay their funds directly to Marshall Strong. The funds will be used to help pay for medical and funeral expenses for the victims. THANK YOU Kentucky REALTORS®! We are am appreciative of the great attendance and hard work by our members!